3 ms·

There are plenty of examples of over population in the world, but the US is not one of them. Our growth is slowing and there are huge amounts of available land.

by jonknee 13y ago

There are plenty of examples of over population in the world, but the US is not one of them. Our growth is slowing and there are huge amounts of available land. The country could easily be several times its size in population.

hawkharris 13y ago
Your statement about the United States' available land makes the assumption that the American population is evenly distributed across urban and rural areas. In reality, more than 80 percent of the country's population lives in urban areas. The population in those areas grew by 12.1 percent between 2000 and 2010. Just because spacious rural areas exist doesn't mean that Americans are willing or able to move to them. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-50.html http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census...
- yardie 13y ago
  Then which is it? Is the US overpopulated or just the cities you particularly like? Here are a few places in the US that don't have an overpopulation problem: Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford.
  - hawkharris 13y ago
    Those are interesting examples worth discussing, but, as you know, a handful of anecdotes doesn't invalidate national statistics reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
    - yardie 13y ago
      You said the US was getting overcrowded. Overwhelming evidence says this is hardly the case. Statistics cannot tell you a city is overcrowded, that is a judgement call. And as far as density no city in the US rates even in the top 20.
      - hawkharris 13y ago
        Check out some of the sources provided in one of my comments above, including the one that shows growing homeless and food shortages in 21 major American cities, and urban school systems that are 200% over capacity.
thebooktocome 13y ago
There is not a huge amount of available fresh water to sustain a population several times the United States' current size.
joonix 13y ago
As the labor force moves away from manufacturing to "knowledge-based," I'm not sure why you think population growth will occur in rural areas. Knowledge wants to be near knowledge, growth will continue to be concentrated in large cities.

by jonknee 13y ago

hawkharris 13y ago

Your statement about the United States' available land makes the assumption that the American population is evenly distributed across urban and rural areas. In reality, more than 80 percent of the country's population lives in urban areas. The population in those areas grew by 12.1 percent between 2000 and 2010. Just because spacious rural areas exist doesn't mean that Americans are willing or able to move to them. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-50.html http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census...

yardie 13y ago
Then which is it? Is the US overpopulated or just the cities you particularly like? Here are a few places in the US that don't have an overpopulation problem: Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford.
- hawkharris 13y ago
  Those are interesting examples worth discussing, but, as you know, a handful of anecdotes doesn't invalidate national statistics reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
  - yardie 13y ago
    You said the US was getting overcrowded. Overwhelming evidence says this is hardly the case. Statistics cannot tell you a city is overcrowded, that is a judgement call. And as far as density no city in the US rates even in the top 20.
    - hawkharris 13y ago
      Check out some of the sources provided in one of my comments above, including the one that shows growing homeless and food shortages in 21 major American cities, and urban school systems that are 200% over capacity.

thebooktocome 13y ago

There is not a huge amount of available fresh water to sustain a population several times the United States' current size.

joonix 13y ago

As the labor force moves away from manufacturing to "knowledge-based," I'm not sure why you think population growth will occur in rural areas. Knowledge wants to be near knowledge, growth will continue to be concentrated in large cities.